Aaron Gordon Calls Out 'Handsy' Thunder for Fouling Nikola Jokic 'Throughout The Game'
Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon feels the Oklahoma City Thunder got away with several fouls during Wednesday's 149-106 blowout win in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series.
Speaking to reporters after OKC evened the series at 1-1, Gordon said the following about how the game was officiated (beginning at 2:05 mark of the video):
"They're calling the second foul almost every time. They're fouling Joker first, and then Joker is reactionary, and they do get the second guy a lot of the time. But they're fouling him, point blank, period, throughout the game. You can't call every foul or you'd be calling a foul every single play, but they're fouling him.
"I also mentioned to Joke, you gotta play through it. You gotta play through it, you gotta be stronger, be more physical. All of us do. We all gotta play through it because they're not gonna call a foul every single play. Very handsy team."
Denver was called for 29 personal fouls compared to Oklahoma City's 24, and the Thunder took advantage at the charity stripe by making an impressive 33 of their 36 free-throw attempts.
As Gordon mentioned, the Thunder were especially physical with three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić, who had a tough outing after going off for 42 points and 22 rebounds in the Nuggets' Game 1 win.
In Game 2, Jokić finished with only 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and six assists. He also turned the ball over six times and was a career-worst minus-36 when on the court.
Jokić fouled out late in the third quarter after getting called for an offensive foul, although the game was already well in hand for OKC at that point.
The Thunder were the best team during the regular season with a 68-14 record, and their smothering defense was a big reason why.
Oklahoma City held its opponents to a league-low 43.6 percent shooting from the field, and its 107.6 points allowed per game was the third-fewest in the NBA.
The Thunder also forced the most turnovers per game with 16.3, and they only turned the ball over themselves 11.0 times per game, which was the fewest in the league.
Playing against an elite defensive team like the Thunder can be frustrating, and Gordon's frustration seemed to be compounded by the fact that he didn't feel like both teams were being officiated the same way.
Regardless, the Nuggets will have to put forth a far better effort when they host Game 3 on Friday night, or else the series could start to get away from them just like Game 2 did.
